Pedestal pumps are used in a variety of applications. For example, pedestal pumps are used in ice machines to draw water in from a sump and to centrifugally force the water out through a discharge port over a heat exchanger which in turn cools the water in order to convert the water to ice. The pedestal pump typically has an impeller that is driven by a motor which is mounted to the pedestal so that an output shaft of the motor is directly coupled to the impeller through the pedestal.
The motor typically has threaded studs extending therefrom which are used to attach the motor to the pedestal. The threaded studs are passed through corresponding holes in a flange located at one end of the neck of the pedestal. Nuts are threaded over the threaded ends of the studs that protrude through the flange so as to attach the motor to the pedestal.
Because there are a variety of motors which could be used with the pedestal pump, there are a variety of stud configurations to which the flange at the neck of the pedestal must be adapted. Therefore, during attachment of the motor to the pedestal, the assembler currently forms holes through the flange to match the stud configuration of the selected motor. Moreover, not only must the hole configuration of the pedestal match the stud configuration of the motor, but the hole configuration of the pedestal must permit the pedestal and motor to be mounted to each other and to the housing of the ice machine so that the discharge port of the pedestal has the proper orientation.
As can be seen, the hole forming procedure as discussed above adds significantly to the labor cost associated with the assembling of pedestal mounted motors and pumps. Additionally, if the pedestal flange holes are pre-drilled, as is the case when pedestals are supplied to wholesalers and service organizations, then different pedestal models must be offered in order to accommodate the different motor stud configurations and orientation requirements for pedestal discharge ports.
The present invention is arranged to solve one or more of these problems by providing a mounting arrangement which greatly expands the number of motors which may be mounted to the pedestal, which increases the number of relative pedestal/motor positions in order to accommodate a wider variety of discharge port orientations, and which reduces the required number of pedestal models to one.